The right to vote has always been fundamental to our system of representative democracy, yet most African-American voters in southern states were denied this right for almost a hundred years, despite the ratification of the 15th Amendment in 1870. Southern voter registration boards imposed overwhelming bureaucratic impediments to qualified black voters and subjected them to harassment, economic reprisals and physical violence. With their voices unheard, they had little, if any, political power.
選舉權一直是代議民主體系的基礎，然而美國南部各州大部分的非裔選民卻不被賦予這一基本權利，盡管1870年第15項修正案批準了選舉權利法案，但這種狀況仍持續了近一百年。南方選民注冊委員會對合格的黑人選民施加了壓倒性的官僚障礙，包括騷擾，經濟報復和身體暴力等手段。因為統治階級無視選民的呼聲，所以他們沒有任何政治權利。
In early 1965, during the Civil Rights Movement, peaceful demonstrators in Birmingham and Selma, Alabama were met with violent police resistance, including nightsticks, water hoses, tear gas, attack dogs, and imprisonment. Televised newscast images of these events outraged Americans, and persuaded President Lyndon B. Johnson and Congress to make voting rights legislation a priority.
在1965年早期的民權運動期間，伯明翰、塞爾瑪和阿拉巴馬市的和平示威者遭到防暴警察的鎮壓，他們用木棒、軟管、催淚彈、擊狗棒襲擊示威者，并逮捕示威者入獄。事件一經電視播出，便激怒了美國人，這也迫使林頓·約翰遜總統和國會優先考慮選舉權立法。
The Voting Rights Bill passed quickly in both houses, and was signed into law on August 6th, 1965. It gave the Federal government power to oversee the registration and election process in problematic counties. The Voting Rights Act was amended in 1970, '75, and '82, extending protection to other minorities and disenfranchised voters. Though the voting process in America continues to spark debate, the Voting Rights Act remains a significant piece of legislation, guaranteeing that no citizen will be denied the right to vote on account of race, color, or disability.
《選舉權法案》很快通過兩院的批準，最終于1965年8月6日簽署生效。這賦予聯邦政府在問題城市監督注冊和選舉進程的權利。1970年、1975年和1982年的選舉法案修正案給予少數民族和被剝奪權利的選民以保護。盡管美國的選舉程序將繼續引發爭論，但選舉權法案仍然是一項重要立法，它確保居民不因種族，膚色和殘疾而被剝奪選舉權。
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